Consulting firms margins are based on billable percentages across their staff. If you fire non-billable staff you are more profitable. This is a rational action

Consulting firms margins are based on billable percentages across their staff. If you fire non-billable staff you are more profitable. This is a rational action by the market, acknowledging that this will likely make the company more profitable. (Assuming you don't believe they're letting go of so many people that their billable professionals will no longer function, but typically the slack gets picked up and things move on)